Hidden hunger: America’s growing malnutrition epidemic

Even people in the wealthiest countries aren’t getting enough nutrients, write Barbara Bush, daughter of former US president George W Bush, and Hugh Welsh, president of DSM North America. Some 85% of Americans lack essential vitamins

Schoolchildren line up for a meal. More than half of American children don’t get enough vitamin D or E.
Photograph: Alamy

The word “hunger” calls to mind thin, starving children in developing countries, but in the US today, the real picture of undernutrition is different. In some cases, children who are obese who are malnourished because they are consuming the wrong types of foods – foods that are calorie dense, but nutritionally poor. It is called “hidden hunger” and it robs billions of people the opportunity to reach their full potential.

With hidden hunger, officially known as micronutrient deficiency, people eat enough calories, but fail to get essential nutrients such as vitamins and minerals. It’s a well-recognized issue in developing countries, where organizations like the World Food Programme and many others work tirelessly to ensure that people – particularly young children – get the essential nutrition they need to reach their full physical and cognitive potential.

Even obese children can suffer from undernutrition if they eat the wrong foods. Photograph: Eva Gründemann/EWestend61/Corbis

Babies are highly vulnerable to micronutrient deficiency up to age two, when they are in a period of intense physical, motor and cognitive growth. There is no way to catch up later. Without that initial nutrition, children often deal with physical and mental deficits for the rest of their lives. Undernourished children are also more likely to suffer from illnesses, and as a result, less likely to perform well in school.

While awareness of malnutrition in the developing world is high, micronutrient deficiency is rarely discussed in the US. However, it is a serious and growing challenge in all segments of our population, particularly among those with low and middle incomes, who have limited access to – or simply can’t afford – the extra cost of essential nutrition.

About 85% of Americans do not consume the US Food and Drug Administration’s recommended daily intakes of the most important vitamins and minerals necessary for proper physical and mental development.

More than half of American children do not get enough of vitamins D and E, while more than a quarter do not get enough calcium, magnesium or vitamin A, according to a recent Journal of Nutrition study. This can result in a compromised immune system, stunted physical growth, reduced mental ability, chronic disease and even death.

Global Health Corps, a nonprofit that works to improve health in poor communities in African countries, as well as in the US, plans to expand its work in the US further this year, with projects – with the help of DSM – aimed at making low-income families in Newark, New Jersey, healthier.

Even in the wealthiest countries, shifting patterns of diet and lifestyle are leading to poor nutrition. While we know what we should eat, we often don’t have the time or resources to eat meals that fully satisfy our nutritional needs.

Everyone, not just the undernourished, should care about this issue. Aside from a human toll, undernutrition also takes an economic one. Vitamin deficiencies and deficiencies in Omega -3 and other lipids cost billions in healthcare in the US alone.

These health care expenses – combined with the loss in productivity and wages for those who are sick, as well as higher assistant living costs – serve as an avoidable annual multibillion-dollar drag on our economy.

And it is, indeed, avoidable. For example, studies show that children who take multivitamins regularly or eat fortified foods are least likely to suffer from micronutrient deficiencies.

US first lady Michelle Obama dances with an eggplant at a La Petite Academy chid care center in Bowie, Maryland. Photograph: JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS

All of us have to have a stake in our future when it comes to undernutrition. If we can’t eat the way we should, we need an alternative way to ensure we get the essential nutrition required, such as through food fortification or supplementation. These practices could ensure that every man, women and – especially – child, regardless of income level, availability and lifestyle, has an opportunity to reach their full potential.

We can never achieve equal opportunity in learning and earning until we can guarantee equal nutritional opportunity for everyone, particularly children. We must work together to ensure that everyone has access to effective, affordable and convenient essential nutrients.